The Messis and the Ronaldos of the football world can eat their hearts out; according to reports in the Cameroon news media, as also sports journals the world over, Cameroonian international Samuel Eto’o has signed a deal with Russian soccer club Anzhi Makhachkala that will propel him to the top of the list of the world’s highest paid footballers.

A recent statement on the club’s website states that an agreement has been reached between Anzhi and Inter Milan — the club that Eto’o currently plays for — and that the terms have been worked over to amply suit all involved parties.

The superlative striker has been formally awarded a three-year contract after he successfully cleared a routine medical checkup.
Reports state that Eto’o stands to earn a net amount of €20 million (US $29 million) net per season, eclipsing the estimated €12 million that Real Madrid pays to Cristiano Ronaldo and pushing Lionel Messi’s €10.5 million annual purse at Barcelona to third place.

As Inter Milan’s contract with Eto’o hasn’t expired yet, Anzhi would also have to pay a transfer fees of nearly €27 million, a sum fixed after negotiations that lasted nearly a week.

Anzhi state that Eto’o will join the clun ASAP to prepare for the match against rival club FC Rostov.

The club is owned by billionaire oil magnate Suleiman Kerimov and is located in the southern Russian province of Dagestan.
For Eto’o, this opportunity means more than mere riches; after having been a part of a Champion League side on three occasions — twice at Barcelona and once at Inter — he’s getting a chance to build a possible success story in the cash-rich but still fledgling Russian League.

At 30, it seems that Eto’o is yet to reach his peak. He led the scoring tables for Inter by scoring 37 goals in all competitions last season, having eclipsed Milito as the club’s most prolific goal artist. He played a key role in Inter’s victorious Champions League in 2010, often putting team before self by accepting an attacking midfield or defensive role for erstwhile coach Jose Mourinho.

His stint at Inter, beginning in 2009, followed what had been a career-defining five year stint at Barcelona, which saw him being a part of the Champions League winning side on two occasions. Not only that, he scored in the final games on both instances, against Arsenal and Manchester United.

Anzhi boasts of another living legend in its ranks: its captain is 38-year-old former Brazilian team left-back Roberto Carlos, he of the phenomenal banana kick and rock solid defence.

That the Russian club could afford to spend on a heavy hitter like Eto’o should come as no surprise, as Forbes magazine’s latest list on the world’s wealthiest people places club owner Kerimov at the 118th position, tying with Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi.

A club spokesman commented, “He’s a good player so of course he costs good money. Of course it’s a very good deal for our club. Samuel is very well known all over the world.”

After achieving several milestones in a distinguished club-football career, Samuel Eto’o has once again given Cameroon football and his countrymen a lot to be proud about.
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“Arie Haan” Former Cameroon coach has been fined more than $ 650,000 to the country’s football federation (FECAFOOT).

Board of the World Cup decided that the Dutchman has broken his contract with the national team coach.

Haan signed a two-year contract with Cameroon in August 2006 but he left in February 2007.

The coach claimed at the time that there was ‘interference’ from within Fecafoot.

Fifa said the ruling could still be challenged at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

The single judge of Fifa’s players’ status committee has decided on the merits of the case but has yet to communicate the reasons to either party.

“As a result the decision is not yet final and binding,” Fifa said in a statement to the BBC.

Arie Haan is currently a China coach and in the past he had led to the Albanian national team.

When Haan was playing, he was a key player of Netherlands team who had reached the final of the 1974 and 1978 World Cup.

Cameroon five coaches of a Division clubs left Yaounde to Brazil on Saturday where they must participate in a couple of week long intern program, the Sports Ministry APA said.

Originally scheduled to last three months, the course was shortened due to the professional sports season underway in the country.

Announced to be a routine exercise, the training programmers of Cameroonian tacticians in Brazil are the fruit of the partnership that the two countries signed in early August, according the Ministry of Sports.

Cameroon sports officials say they are willing to raise the standard of the league by giving local trainers who in turn provide knowledge to local talent.
According to The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS), The Cameroon division 1 club MTN Elite 1 is 6^th position in Africa.

For discuss the issue related to the ‘Indomitable Lions’ critical home draw against DR Congo in the 2^nd round of 2012 Africa Cup of National qualifiers, Cameroon Sports Minister called Coach Javier Clemente with his two assistants François Omam Biyik and Jacques Songo’o to a meeting on yesterday in Yaoundé.

According to Cameroonian daily Quotidien Le Jour, Zoah criticized the Spanish-born tactician for not having produced a work plan since he took office as head coach of the Lions. The minister urged the 60-year-old coach to prepare and present a work plan covering 12 months to be submitted to the Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT).

Secondly, the minister said Clemente did not adequately communicate with the National Technical Direction (DTN) – an organ overseeing the activities of the national team and the local leagues. A working session was therefore scheduled between the coach and the DTN.

Finally, Cameroon Sports Minister asked the embattled Coach Javier Clemente to have firm hold on the national team, which observers say is slipping off the manager’s hold.

The Commonwealth Games will get a much-needed boost when soccer star Roger Milla joins his Cameroon compatriots this week. The legendary African footballer will fly down to Delhi to encourage the athletes from his country in the 12-day extravaganza beginning on October 3, According to sources in the Cameroon CWG squad, which checked into the Village on Sunday.

An official of the Cameroon team said. “Roger Milla is expected to come sometime this week”.

“Milla is supposed to accompany our minister for sports and physical education to watch some of the events in the Games,” the official added. He, however, was not aware whether the former star would stay at the Games Village.

Though football is not a part of the Commonwealth Games, Milla is coming to the Games on the strength of being the sports ambassador of Cameroon.

Easily the most famous name of the sporting fraternity of his country, Milla spends most of his time jetting around the world to spread the message of sports and goodwill.

Roger Milla achieved international stardom in the 1990 World Cup scoring four goals, each celebrated with special dance steps, which has become a trademark in modern football. A few months later, Milla visited Calcutta when he played a match for Diamond Club as a part of Mohun Bagan’s centenary celebrations.

In 2004, Milla was chosen by Pele and Fifa as one of the top 125 living soccer players and in 2006 as the best African soccer player of the last century by the African football association.

Currently, Milla is also one of the ambassadors for Qatar’s bid to host the World Cup football in 2022.

Milla, who achieved stardom at the age of 38 in the 1990 World Cup, was recently in the news when he accused the present day footballers of reserving their best for their clubs and ignoring the national team.

Milla’s comments, which were mainly aimed at Cameroon soccer, star Samuel Eto’ after the World Cup in South Africa, resulted in a war of words between the two football icons.

The condition turned so bad that Cameroon’s minister of sports finally decided to bring together the two and made Roger Milla and Eto’ to meet and sort out their differences.

For the Commonwealth Games built for the 2nd to the 13th October 2010, a twenty man Cameroonian delegation has arrived New Delhi [The capital of India].

Before the event begins the athletes and technical staff are expected to acquaint themselves with the environment and the playing ground.

The athletes who intensified preparations during a one week camp in Yaounde shall represent the country in four disciplines; athletics, weight lifting, combat and boxing.  Hugo Mamba, one of the athletes is Cameroon’s flag bearer during the competition. The Commonwealth Games is exclusively for English speaking countries. The games are due to begin despite security concerns expressed by some Western states.

The match was played on Sunday in Brazzaville capital of Congo; the Cameroon’s Intermediate Lions have qualified for the semi-finals of the ongoing CEMAC cup taking place in the Republic of Congo. The lions picked the qualification ticket following a one – nil urge over the Panthers of Gabon.

A local sports consultant and radio personality, Comfort ‘Exotic’ Ramatebele popularly known as ‘Big Fish’ is working hard day to convert a dream of being a soccer agent into reality.

Contributing to sustainable sports development in Botswana is what the Executive President of Glamour Sports International aspires to do, but he faces a big challenge of raising funds close to P700 000 in order be licensed to assume his duties as a fulltime certified soccer player agent. It is one of the FIFA requirements that one has to possess a minimum of such an amount in order to be qualified.

“I am talking to four potential financiers,” the 36-year old told Gazette Sport recently. He did not reveal the names of those people to avoid jeopardizing proceedings but noted that amongst the business people he is currently in talks with; one is a former football administrator, the other one is a transport magnate currently involved in football, and the last one owns a property conglomerate.

Big Fish said that he is also planning a possible tie with a legal consultant. He is currently eyeing someone with a great legal background in local football. “He would be an ideal partner because of his legal dynamics,” the Serowe-born radio personality insisted.

While involved in attempts to source such huge funds, he is also working tirelessly to familiarize himself with the market. He told Gazette Sport that he has sourced contacts from the neighbouring South Africa and as far as Cameroon. “I have identified potential partners in South Africa, I’ve been engaged with a number of clubs there,” he said. In Cameroon, he is in contact with an agent with close ties to overseas based players.

Banyana Banyana suffered a 2-0 international friendly defeat to Cameroon on Sunday, but will have learned a great deal from the match at the Moruleng Stadium in the North West province.

Goals from Aboudi Ongeuene and Kareen Yoh gave the visitors the win, but the South African women gave a good account of themselves – and know they can still call on five of their foreign-based players before the CAF Women’s Championships kick off on home soil in November.

The top two sides from that competition will go through to the 2011 Fifa Women’s World Cup in Germany.

David Weir has been recalled to the Scotland squad for the upcoming European Championship qualifiers at the age of 40 to join an elite band of veterans to represent their nations past their 40th birthday.

Roger Milla – Cameroon

An emergency call from Cameroon president Paul Biya convinced Milla to come out of retirement at the age of 38 and lead the Indomitable Lions to the 1990 World Cup. The former African footballer of the year did not disappoint, scoring four goals and setting the trend for extravagant goal celebrations as Cameroon went all the way to the quarter-finals, still the furthest an African team has been at the showpiece event. Amazingly, Milla was back four years later, aged 42, to compete at USA becoming the oldest World Cup player in history. His close-range goal against Russia gave him another record, the oldest scorer at the finals.

Billy Meredith – Wales

The original ‘Welsh Wizard’ is credited as being British football’s first superstar. He played as an outside forward and was famous for taking to the field while chewing tobacco and later, a toothpick. Meredith represented Manchester City and Manchester United with distinction during a 30-year spell in the city, beginning in 1894. He attempted to start an English football trade union and also was embroiled in a match-fixing scandal while at City. It was alleged that he offered an Aston Villa player the sum of £10 to throw a game and the episode threatened to overshadow his legacy as an early great. On the international front he amassed almost half a century worth of caps for the Dragons, the last of which came on March 15, 1920 when he played at Highbury against England at the age of 45.

Stanley Matthews – England

The ‘Wizard of Dribble’ enjoyed an international career which spanned 23 years, from his debut in September 1934 to his farewell match in May 1957, making him the oldest player ever to represent England. The game ended in ignominious circumstances as the Three Lions went down 4-1 to Denmark in Copenhagen. A true legend of the English game, Matthews is revered by fans of Stoke City and Blackpool, the clubs for which he played between 1932 and 1965 and was renowned for his gentleman’s etiquette. Indeed, over 700 league games he was never booked. He won a solitary FA Cup during his playing days and was the recipient of the inaugural Ballon d’Or in 1956. Matthews also helped to foster the game in Africa, coaching a team called Stan’s Men in Soweto during his retirement and featuring for a Nigeria XI in Lagos in 1957.

Angel Labruna – Argentina

River Plate’s all-time top goalscorer with 293 strikes, Angel Labruna is fondly remembered in his homeland as one of the finest marksmen ever to have played the game. He experienced an international career spanning 16 years but, due to World War II and Argentina’s non-participation in 1950 and 1954, only featured at one World Cup tournament. That came at the age of 40 in Sweden, when la Albiceleste finished bottom of a group containing West Germany, Northern Ireland and Czechoslovakia. Infamously, the side chose to return to Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, rather than face the wrath of Argentina fans at the airport in Buenos Aires.

Dino Zoff – Italy

Italy’s 1982 World Cup-winning captain made his debut for the Azzurri in 1968 and continued playing internationally until one year after the Spanish triumph. He led his side to glory aged 40, making him the oldest player ever to win the tournament and was praised by manager Enzo Bearzot for his calm assuredness and sportsmanship. Zoff is best remembered at club level for his exploits at Juventus, winning six Serie A titles, although he also had a long spell at Napoli. Named the third best goalkeeper of the 20th century, Zoff once went 1174 minutes without conceding a goal for la Nazionale. He entered coaching after his playing career ended, winning a UEFA Cup with Juve and taking Italy to the final of Euro 2000.

Pat Jennings – Northern Ireland

Another goalkeeper who played into his fifth decade, Jennings will go down as one of Northern Ireland’s finest ever players and he remains to this day their most capped. From the border town of Newry, he was one of the most high profile players to make the move across North London from Tottenham to Arsenal and his longevity surprised those at the Lane, who had believed his best days were behind him. Such was his importance to the national team and the high regard in which he was still held at Tottenham, he would train with Spurs after his career had ended, in order to remain sharp for the 1986 World Cup, Northern Ireland’s third and most recent appearance. He made his final appearance in Mexico against Brazil on his 41st birthday. Although he is fondly remembered for his goal in the 1967 Charity Shield, his finest moment was keeping a clean sheet as Northern Ireland shocked host nation Spain in a never to be forgotten 1-0 victory in Valencia.

Peter Shilton – England

The two-time European Cup winner has been immortalised as Diego Maradona’s fall-guy for his infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal during the 1986 World Cup quarter-final. Shilton is England’s all-time caps record holder, with 125 appearances to his name, playing at the 1982, 1986 and 1990 World Cups. He finished his international career at the third-place play-off in Bari against Italy at the age of 40, but played a further seven years at club level before retiring with over 1000 matches to his name. His England career lasted from 1970 to 1990, almost a generation’s worth of goalkeeping. His career, in total, went from 1966 to 1997 and included almost every honour the game had to offer at Leicester City and later, at Nottingham Forest, under Brian Clough.

MacDonald Taylor – US Virgin Islands

The most capped player in the history of the US Virgin Islands is registered as the oldest player ever to feature in a competitive international. Aged 46 and 217 days, Taylor lined-up against St Kitts and Nevis in a 2006 World Cup qualifier on March 31, 2004. Unfortunately for him, the game resulted in a 7-0 drubbing for the away side. US Virgin Islands have not had much success on the footballing stage; their top scorer, Kevin Sheppard, has two goals to his name and left to pursue a basketball career in Iran.

Hossam Hassan – Egypt

Egypt’s record caps-holder and record goalscorer, Hassan netted 83 times from 170 international matches over the course of a 21-year international career. The striker called time on his playing days in 2006 following a third Africa Cup of Nations triumph, on home soil, against Cote D’Ivoire. At that stage he had passed his 40th birthday and was co-captain of the team alongside Ahmed Hassan. His first continental win came in 1986 and Hassan also represented his country at the 1990 World Cup. At club level, he accrued a glut of honours with Al Ahly and later rivals Zamalek, the club he now coaches.

Kalusha Bwalya – Zambia

The Cercle Brugge legend led Zambia to second place at the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations less than a year after the entire Chipolopolo squad perished in an air crash off the Gabon coast ahead of a World Cup qualifier in Senegal. Bwalya had made his own plans to travel to the fixture as he was playing with PSV Eindhoven in Europe at the time and took a group of untried team-mates to a 2-1 defeat against Nigeria in Tunisia. Kalusha was the player-coach for a sequence of matches in the run-up to the 2006 World Cup and came off the bench to sink Liberia with a late-free kick in Lusaka, aged 41. A true great of the African game, Kalusha is the serving president of the Zambian FA.

It has been two years since Banyana Banyana beat Cameroon 3-0 in a CAF Women’s Championship that took place in the scorching heat of Equatorial Guinea.

As they meet again on Sunday in a friendly international, Augustine Makalakane’s team will have an even bigger advantage against the Cameroon.

Not only do they have home ground advantage, but the coach has two new inclusions in his Banyana team that are raring to go. Midfielder Gabisile Hlumbane and striker Betty Maseko will be expected to score the goals in the absence of reigning African Women’s Player of the Year Noko Matlou, rested because Makalakalane wants to test out these two.

Hlumbane, who plays for Kovsies FC, was surprised at her inclusion in the team. “I did not expect to be called up. I’m happy and now that I am here. I am hoping we will win on Sunday,” Hlumbane said.

“The coach is not scared to try new things, and I am sure he has picked his best team and not his best individuals to play the friendly,” she added.

Makalakalane was the mastermind behind the convincing victory last time and believes the team he has assembled is even stronger to record another victory against the West Africans.

“First of all, we will be playing on home ground, that will give us an advantage. And secondly, we have grown stronger since our last encounter with Cameroon. They are a good side, but we are prepared for anything that they will throw at us.”

Even though Banyana have been on a good run of form, beating Namibia 4-1 in May, and later demolishing Tanzania 6-0 in July, the former Sundowns captain should be worried. Cameroon were at the top of their game in their last match, an African Women Championships qualifying game two months ago against the Democratic Republic of Congo – they won 3-0.

Makalakalane will be rotating some of the players in Banyana’s friendlies in preparation for the African Women’s Championships in October.

“Our objective is to have a bigger pool of players to choose from; the team has extensive talent and we are trying to make use of all the players so we do not depend heavily on the stars.”

The national under-17 women’s team raised the bar in June by becoming the first women’s team in South Africa to play in a World Cup, and Banyana will look to follow suite.

They will have to qualify for the final at the Championships to earn a ticket to the World Cup next year.

Safa vice president Mandla Mazibuko said they are behind Banyana in their quest to qualify for the 2011 World Cup, and “we will support them to ensure that they make us proud in the continental championship (CAF)”.

“We want to see Banyana qualify for the World Cup just like Bantwana and our other national teams to show that the standard of SA football is getting better and better.”

Cameroon provides Banyana a good test.